City Island Sings!

I animatic’d these fun little musical shorts for PBS Kids’ ‘City Island’! There are ten in total, all in different musical genres (Glam Rock, Country, Hip Hop), all from a different City Island character’s POV, and each tackling a different civic-related topic; (Block Parties, Voting, Media, Mail Delivery). All the music was written by Tunde Adebimpe of ‘TV On The Radio’. Fun fact: he wrote a David Bowie style song here (‘Let’s Vote!), and once collaborated with David Bowie! Whoa!

You can watch them all here, but below are my favorites:

The Insurrection Maze Jigsaw Puzzle and Poster Are HEre!

Get ‘em while they’re hot!! It’s the Jigsaw Puzzle all “Jan 6ers” don’t want you to see! Fun for the whole traitor-hating family!! And you can now buy the poster, in many forms; Canvas Print, Art Print, and framed!

Unfortunately, I was unable to include The Seditious Scumbag Checklist in the jigsaw puzzle box, but you can grab it here, print it out, and have even more seditious fun!

And, I’m thrilled to announce, 20% of profits will go to Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote. Per their website:

“For too long, young people and people of color have been left out of the political process. [Donations go towards] resources to our volunteers in communities around the country working to help us close the race and age voting gap.”

Haha, those insurrectionists would hate that!

Insurrection Maze!

This is a meticulously researched illustration/puzzle of the violence, weapons, buffoonery, and people that took part in the January 6th Insurrection. EVERYTHING you see here actually happened! EVERYONE you see here is an actual person that took part! See it BIG here! And see the Checklist BIG here!

It took me months not just because of the amount of drawing, but more so because I wanted to make sure that I got ALL the important facts, and people, right.

I’m revealing it just ahead of the two-year anniversary. And I’ll be releasing it as a poster and a jigsaw puzzle very soon, for purchase. Stay tuned for that!

And don’t forget to do the checklist! Tag me @brianmichaelweaver when you’re done! #insurrectionchecklist

6 by six!

For Highlights Magazine! Can YOU solve these puzzles?

Duocon 2022!

I worked with language-teaching experts Duo Lingo on their annual tech and product expo, DUOCON!!! It was all-online this year, but they wanted it to have the feel of an IRL tech conference. So we took two of their most popular characters— goth-y Lily, and energetic Zari— and had them “host” the show! I mainly worked on the very first segment here, that starts at 00:1:10. But if you’re into the fantastic array of characters that make up the language-learning app, or just storytelling in general, check out the awesome talk by Duo Lingo’s Head of Animation, Linda Simensky, at 1:22:00.

Puddler Magazine Puzzles!

Here’s a couple puzzles I made for Puddler, an adorable magazine borne from its adult counterpart, Duck Magazine! They’re magazines mostly about ducks. And frankly, I think that’s fine.

FX's SWAN BOY!

I was an animatic artist for Swan Boy on FX’s Cake! It’s a great show by a great comedic actor, Branson Reese. I animatic’d the below sequence! And I think that’s my whistle at the end there.

Search and Find Puzzles for (Immature) Adults

In 2020, like many parents, Mike Bender, co-creator of Awkward Family Photos, was stuck finding ways to entertain his kids while at home quarantine-ing. He discovered the joy of Hidden Picture puzzles, and wondered “Why don’t they make these for adults?” Thus begat the idea for this AWESOME book, Search and Find Puzzles for (Immature) Adults! He quickly reached out to myself and a number of other renowned Hidden Picture artists, told us the idea, and we were sold!

For funding, Mike looked to Kickstarter, where the project was funded in only seven days!! It was such a thrill for us, and by Christmas, we had the book in stores! Besides the two below, I did a few other puzzles for the book, including an alien probing, an Exorcism in a hen house (“Eggs-orcism”), and my favorite, the hidden picture at a nudist colony. Probably shouldn’t post that one on my website. Guess you’ll have to buy the book!

The HArdest Hidden Pictures Book Ever

The title of the book is fitting, because the cover was one of the HARDEST freaking HIDDEN PICTURES I’ve ever created!

I started by thinking of the setting like a cozy wooden clock interior, with some German or Swiss clockwork vibes. Mostly wood and steel. That was rejected as being a bit too simple, so I tried something a little busier. I submitted thumbnails that had more gears, and more creatures! They liked it, but when I turned in the sketch… they didn’t like it. Not busy enough. This the “HARDEST”, they reminded me!

So, I tried out some color comps, which I didn’t normally do, but we were determined to get this right! White background color, yellow background color, and one with depth! …They weren’t feeling them.

But I pushed on with the sketch, not knowing how I’d tie it all together in the end with color, but knowing I needed to go forward with the sketch nonethelessless. Finally we arrived at a sketch that the editors felt suited the book theme. Then the question of how to make it work, color-wise. I tried a bunch of things; muted colors, grays and browns, some color, LOTS of color! In the end, they chose the limited colors: cream, browns, grays, and the light blue back.

In the end, it’s ok. I like some of the hiding places I was able to put the Hidden Objects. Ultimately, I don’t look at this piece and see my best. But I do see one I worked my hardest on! I’ll take it as a win.